Emmett, the Bear, and the I'm sorry, What?
by Iron Angel 80
Summary: This is my version of how Emmett came to be one of the Cullen's. Sorry, had to add another chapter because Emmett is so fun to write.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: _Sooo_ not mine, I just like to play.

Emmett, the Bear, and the…I'm Sorry…What?

It was a warm day. Warm for the Appalachian Mountains in September anyway. But the sun was out now, the breeze was light and there were southward bound Canada Geese noisily flying overhead. I'd been hunting since dawn, and wasn't having much luck. The deer that were normally in abundance in this part of the mountain were no where to be seen. It would be sunset soon, and I would have to head back to Uncle Liam's cabin. I didn't want to be the only one without a deer to bring back. Liam and his son Thomas were very competitive, and I never liked to lose to Thomas. My cousin got under my skin in the worst way. I wondered where he got his sour disposition because Liam and his tiny wife were more like me in the sense that they tried to find the fun in whatever they did.

I heard a rustle in the foliage further up the path. I tightened my grip on my rifle and half lifted it to my shoulder. I had scattered some apples and some salt up there this morning – perhaps I would have my deer after all. I crept silently up the path, going slowly in fear of alerting the beast of my presence. It sounded big. I could just picture a twelve point stag in the bushes, with a beautiful hide and proud rack – and enough meat to feed my family well for a few months. Father had bagged a deer last week, and another one would do well to keep us from starving come winter. Being poor sucked. Uncle Liam hunted primarily for sport, my family hunted for necessity.

I could see the bushes rustling up ahead now. _Big bugger!_ He probably had his antlers caught in the thick undergrowth. I stepped off the path to get around the bushes so I could line up my shot. Plus, I didn't want to shoot blindly in case it was Thomas in the bushes taking a shit.

_Crack!_

_Damn it!_ I'd stepped on a dry twig. But the head that popped out of the top of the bushes wasn't that of a deer. It was a brown bear. And when it stood up on its hind legs, it was the biggest brown bear I'd ever seen. It easily stood over eight feet high, with a big head and thick neck. And when it opened it's maw to roar at me, I realized my head would easily fit in its jaws. The sound that came out of that bear's muzzle was enough to unfreeze me. I raised my rifle and shot straight to where the beast's heart would be. It roared its anger at me as the shot hit. The brown dropped to all fours and came at me. I didn't have time to take another shot at it when it barreled into me and knocked me into the ground. It pummeled me with it huge paws, dagger-like claws raked across my chest and stomach with incredible savagery. I tried to roll over to protect my face and vitals, but it was no use. So much for playing dead. The damn bear knew I was alive by all the screaming I was doing.

I managed to punch him in the snout. However I managed that, I don't know, but it backed up then. _God, go away bear_. I wrapped my arm around my stomach – it hurt something fierce, and it was all warm and wet. The bear stood up on its hind legs again. He looked down on me, opened his jaws and let out a defiant growl. It raised a mighty paw, I know, to deliver a death blow. I knew it was coming, I could see my death in the beast's black eyes. It let out a triumphant roar, when something else came to my ears. It was a blood curdling shriek.

"_Nooo!"_

Something pale barreled into the upright brown, and both objects went tumbling to the ground in a flurry of dark and light. There were snarls coming from both creatures. One the deep growl of the bear, the other a more high pitched snarl that chilled the blood. I'd never heard a sound like that before. What kind of animal made a noise like that? I couldn't see much. I was pulling at the stones in the path to pull myself away from the fight. I was still holding my stomach with one arm, and the scent of blood was overpowering me. I glanced at my hand, and it was a glistening crimson. And now that I was trying to move, I could hardly breath.

I tried to raise my head to watch the fight. My strength was dwindling and through my rapidly blurring vision, I though the pale creature looked human. But that couldn't be. Humans couldn't wrestle bears, let alone one as small as this one. It had to be a mountain lion or something, but I'd never heard of one being in these parts before. Didn't mean it couldn't happen though.

The mountain lion got on the bear's back, and with final shriek, it ripped the bear's head off.

_Ripped its head off!? What the fuck!?_

I blinked rapidly to try to clear my vision. This was no wildcat! It was girl! But it couldn't be. Girls couldn't rip the head off of a bear! The bear carcass slumped forward onto the ground, blood pooled onto the forest floor, and the woman tossed the head into the underbrush.

I recalled the blood curdling shriek the girl had made. No human was capable of that sound. Banshee? Could this creature be one of the Banshee's that my Gran was always trying to scare me with? _Go to bed now or the Banshee will get you_. I'd always thought that a Banshee couldn't possibly be real, or if they were, why they'd leave Ireland to come here. Maybe Banshee's felt the need to try their luck in the new world like Grandpa McCurdy did.

The Banshee tossed her golden hair out of her face and dropped to her knees by my side. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on. Her honey hair hung in soft curls to her waist, she was slender and radiant in her cream colored dress, and her skin sparkled fainting in the dying light. Her face was pinched in worry, and her brows were pulled together over her liquid-gold eyes. I'd never seen eyes that color before, and if she was a Banshee, she was drastically different from the stories of a hunched-over hag whose very scream could kill a man. If this was a Banshee, sign me up.

She covered her mouth with her hand, and her eyes turned black. I felt my heart tremble. _Holy shit! Her eyes just turned black!_ _In an instant!_ She closed her eyes, tipped her head back and swallowed hard. I couldn't take my eyes off her, though I was fighting just to keep them open.

_I'm a dead man_.

"It's okay." She whispered, opening her eyes and swallowing again. Her eyes were still black as night and they were terrifying, despite her having a voice that reminded me of church bells ringing on Christmas Day.

"W-wh…" I tried to speak but I just couldn't get around the pain in my chest and stomach. And I still could hardly breathe.

"Sshh," she whispered, placing a slim finger over my lips. It was like ice. "Don't try to talk. I'm going to get you help."

"Don't leave me," I rasped. Somehow, as frightening as she was, I didn't want her to go. I didn't want to die alone, no matter if whoever was with me was…whatever she was.

"I won't leave you. I'm taking you with me."

"You're a girl. You can't carry me." I slurred.

"I can't wrestle bears either."

_Did her eyes just roll? _"How…?"

"I'm going to take you to my father. He's a doctor and he can help you." She was smoothing my hair along my forehead. It was comforting.

"How far? I didn't know anyone else was up here." It was getting harder and harder to talk, and my vision was swimming.

"A hundred miles." She answered with a straight face.

I tried to laugh but it came out more like a gurgle and it hurt my stomach like hell. "Too far." I gasped.

"We'll be there before you know it." She placed her arms under my shoulders and knees, and lifted me as easy as mother lifts her infant. She did it just as tenderly as well, despite how her arms felt like toughened oak under my battered body. No matter the care, I couldn't help the groan escaping my lips when she lifted me. I was in the most agony I'd ever known.

"I'm going to take you to my father. I need you to keep your eyes open, and I need you to look at me – don't look around."

_Look at her? Got it_. "Okay."

And then we were flying. There was no other way we were moving so quickly. I kept my word and only looked at her, but that didn't mean that I couldn't see the forest canopy whipping past overhead. It was making me more dizzy, so I tried to focus solely on her face. I kept getting glimpses of her glittering skin when the sun struck it. She was beautiful, strong, and could fly, she could only be one thing. "Are you an Angel?"

"No." She answered with such resolute hardness, a chill ran down my spine. Then I remembered her black eyes.

"Are you a demon?" I whispered.

"We're almost there" She ignored me. "Hold on."

_Almost there? How did she cover so much ground so fast? Right, we were flying._ I didn't miss how she didn't answer my question about being a demon. Was she a greater threat to me than the bear? Would I have been better off dying on the forest floor at the paws of a giant brown, than being whisked away by a beautiful demon? To her father, no less? But I didn't feel in danger. I felt oddly safe despite the fact that I was likely bleeding out.

I could feel my consciousness slipping. It would be so peaceful to sleep, to let all the pain slip away. Just to sleep here in the girl's arms. Having my last sight be of this beautiful, sparkling woman wouldn't be such a bad way to go out.

"Don't you dare give up on me!" She ordered. My eyes snapped open. "We're almost there."

It was only another moment until she was maneuvering me through the door to a small cottage. There was a man there, similar in appearance to her and holding open the door. He didn't look much older than me – a brother perhaps?

"Edward and Esme?" She asked the golden man.

"Edward heard you shouting at him a couple miles out. He and Esme are taking refuge in the woods."

_Heard her yelling? She hadn't said a word above a whisper since the bear._

"There's a lot of blood. I didn't want to test their self-control." She whispered, placing me gently on a wooden table.

"And rightly so." The man said, moving to lift one of my eye lids and peering at my face. "They are too young to withstand the temptation." The man grasped my hands in his ice-like ones, and gently pried them away from my stomach.

_Don't do that! I'm trying to keep my insides inside!_

"I'm amazed you were able to bring him so far without succumbing yourself. You're strength defines you."

_I'll say she's strong. Ripped the head off a giant bear_.

"Can you help him?" Worry marred her beautiful voice. I wanted to reach out to comfort her, but I winced as the man pulled the torn remnants of my shirt away from my chest. The blood had started to thicken and the fabric stuck to the wound. "Carlisle!"

"We need to keep him conscious and relaxed while I examine the depth of his injuries."

Wait. _This_ guy was going to treat me? What happened to her father? And who were they talking about earlier? The ones who left because they were tempted? Tempted by what?

"What's your name, son?" The young man asked.

_Son? What was this guy? Two months older than me?_ "Emmett," I managed to gurgle. My breathing was labored, like I was under water and trying to breath through a clogged straw.

"Emmett, I need to examine you before I can help you." The golden man said. He had worried eyes. Liquid gold eyes like the girl. I tried to see if they turned black like hers had, but they just remained that odd color. But I would try to watch his eyes regardless. That black was scary.

"Not you…You're father." I tried to make the man understand. I needed real help, and what could this young man, barely older than myself know of medical treatment? My eyes roved around the room for the girl. She was still in here, I could feel her. I found her in the corner with her hand covering her mouth again. Her eyes were dark, and she looked frightened. I weakly reached out for her. Hesitantly, she stepped forward and grasped my hand in her cold fingers. "Your father," I rasped.

She seemed to know what I was asking because she said, "This _is_ my father – Carlisle." She was stroking my hair again.

I shook my head slightly. "Too young."

"I'm older than I look," Carlisle answered, still gently prodding at my wounds.

_Whatever_. _*Wince*_

"Rosalie, you don't have to prove anything to me. If it's too much, go out and join Edward and Esme in the woods." Carlisle the boy/father said.

"I'm not leaving him!" She hissed. "I'm strong enough to help."

"Rosalie?" I breathed. A beautiful name for such a beautiful woman.

"Yes, Emmett. I'm Rosalie." She smiled at me, but the smile didn't reach those black eyes.

"Stay with me?" I whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere." She gently squeezed my hand. "Just try and make me."

"Didn't answer my question _*gasp*_ before…you a demon?"

"We are certainly not demons!" Carlisle answered for her, giving her a sharp look.

I tried to give her a pleading look, "What…" but caught a glimpse of motion at the window.

Rosalie followed my gaze. There was a young man at the window. He had messy bronze hair and black eyes like Rosalie. "That's my brother Edward." She told me. Carlisle was still examining me and the pain and blood loss was making it difficult to keep my eyes open. "He wants to help," she continued to stroke my hair, "but he can't come inside because of the blood."

"Kid's afraid of a little blood?" I tried to laugh. The blood loss was making me lightheaded and giddy.

"Something like that."

"You're not scared of it."

"I'm terrified of it." She corrected me.

"What are you?" She just looked away and ignored me. "Not human and not a demon…must be an angel." I whispered. Everything went black then. I felt a weak tremble in my chest but at the same time I felt Rosalie grip my hand tighter.

"Hold on Emmett!" She shouted. "Carlisle?!"

"He's lost too much blood and is bleeding internally. His intestines are shredded, a rib tore a hole in one lung and he's slowly drowning in fluids."

_Great bedside manner Doc._

"Can't you do anything for him?" She shrieked.

"If we were in the hospital, we could give him more blood and try to do some surgery to give him more time. But we're too far out and we'll never get him there in time. I'm sorry Rosalie, there's nothing I can do."

"You can't give up!"

_You tell him beautiful._ I couldn't say anything for myself, I was floating on a black ocean.

"There is something I can do for him Rosalie." Carlisle whispered.

"No!" She said with such vehemence that the table vibrated.

_Oh…she's got a temper._

"Rosalie, I can make him comfortable for the time he's got left, or I can save him. The choice is yours."

"Why is it my choice to make?" She cried.

"You brought him here. You withstood the blood. Am I wrong in thinking you saw something in him?"

"It shouldn't be my choice to make." She whispered harshly.

"Well, he's not in any condition to choose for himself."

"I didn't get to choose. Neither did Edward." She said bitterly. I wished I could see her face, but I just didn't have the strength to open my eyes.

"A fact you've never withheld from me, and a mistake I'll never make again." Carlisle said softly.

_What are they talking about? Can the Doc save me or what?_

"I don't know what to _do_." It pained her to say that, I could tell.

"You'll have to decide now Rose. He's only got minutes left."

_Don't cry. Don't be sad. The Doc said he can save me._

"Edward?" She called. "Is he still with us? Can you hear him?"

"He can still hear you Rose." A muffled voice came through the window.

"Emmett," she gripped my hand and held it to her cheek. "Emmett, Carlisle can save you, but you have to know, this path is not easy. You can never go back to your old life."

_What are you talking about?_

"He confused Rosalie." Came the window voice again.

_How does he know what I'm thinking?_

"Rosalie…" Carlisle warned her.

"He wants to know why saving him makes you sad Rose." Said the window.

"Oh Emmett…you can never go home again, you'll have to stay with us."

_That's not so bad – I want to stay with you_.

"He wants to stay with you Rosalie." Mr. Window was freaking me out.

"Emmett…" she whispered, "we're vam…". But then I sunk deeper into the black ocean, and I couldn't feel Rosalie holding my hand anymore.

"You're loosing him!" Edward shouted.

"Carlisle! Do it!" She screamed.

I felt a sharp pain in my neck…and then I felt fire.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The fire burned in my veins. My very blood was boiling, though I couldn't have had much blood left. I writhed and screamed, all the while, Rosalie stayed by my side and kept whispering "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I. Was. In. Hell.

And I must have been wrong about the angel part, because there was no way an angel could be in hell beside me and holding my hand. She must be a demon after all.

On and on the torment went. I should have led a better life. I should have been good so that I would have been spared this torture. I had lied, I had cheated and stolen. I had lusted and then lusted some more. And there was no way the Mallory twins in the hay loft was worth this agony. No. Definitely not.

The Doctor drifted in every once in a while, though no one could bear to listen to my screaming for too long. Only Rosalie never left my side. Edward came in once but left immediately. Rosalie said, "Edward _wants_ to be here for you, but he hears your thoughts, and the pain is too much for him."

_How in the hell does he hear my thoughts?_

I wasn't aware I had any thoughts. I just assumed there was nothing but excruciating pain. I couldn't even vocalize anything other than agonized screams. The only thing I could really focus on was Rosalie.

"I'm sorry Emmett, so sorry. I didn't want this to happen." She talked nearly non-stop, but concentrating on her beautiful voice seemed to help. "I was following you in the woods. I wasn't hunting you, I promise. But you reminded me of someone I knew briefly in my old life, and I couldn't stay away. When the sun came out, I had to stay far back so that you wouldn't see me. Once you wake up, you'll know what I mean. But I was too far back to save you from the bear. When he hit you…I lost it. I got there as soon as I could, but it did so much damage so fast. I couldn't leave you to die on the forest floor. I had to try to save you, which is why I brought you to Carlisle. I swear, I wanted him to save your life. I wanted you to be able to go back to your family. Please forgive me for changing you. Please don't hate me."

I still didn't understand what she was talking about. It was really hard to focus on everything she said because the pain was too great. I mainly focused on the tone of her voice – and it was obvious she was sad. Did she think she had something to do with my going to hell? I'd never known her before today, and she'd saved me from the bear. Was she being punished for not getting to me in time? Was that why she was in the pit with me? She didn't seem to be writhing in agony like I was. Maybe her punishment was to watch me suffer.

I tried to be still and quiet after that, but it was no use. The fire burned through me no matter what. Eternity passed by at a snails pace – my purgatory – just me and my angel.

"We're different – my family." She said after awhile. "We don't live like the others of our kind. We don't kill humans."

_Well that's nice to know. What are you?_

"Carlisle was turned two centuries ago, and he learned that we could survive on animal blood. So when he created the rest of us, he taught us to restrain ourselves. We'll help you too, Emmett." She was stroking my hair again. "You can stay with us, and we'll teach you _our_ ways."

_I'll get to stay with you after all? Eternity in Hell with…whatever you are?_

"It won't be much longer. It will all be over soon."

_My damnation was almost over? Then what?_

"I can hear your heart slowing."

I could feel it slowing. And the pain was withdrawing inwards, away from my arms and legs. The pain may have been withdrawing, it didn't mean it was lessening. I continued to scream, and Rosalie stayed by my side, letting me squeeze her cold hand with all my strength.

An eternity later, everyone was gathered in the room I was in. Carlisle, Esme, Edward – and of course, Rosalie. Edward was lurking at the back of the room while Carlisle and Esme were waiting expectantly. Something was going on. The pain was receding towards my heart, and it was slowing down drastically.

I was afraid.

I could hear everyone holding their breath. So this was it. This is when I die. _Do I get to join them in heaven now that I did my time in Purgatory?_

"You're not going to heaven, Emmett." Edward said callously from the corner.

_How are you in my head?_

"I don't know, it happened after I was transformed." He whispered, "Perhaps you'll have an ability as well."

_Transformed into what?_

"Haven't they explained it to you?" Edward asked coldly.

"Edward hush – you'll frighten him." Esme scolded him.

"He deserves to know what we are…What he is becoming."

_What am I becoming?_

"Shut up Edward." Rosalie growled.

My heart was faltering now. It only beat every few seconds. Slower and slower.

"Vampire." Edward whispered.

_I'm sorry what?_ Alarm ran through me.

"Vampire, Emmett."

"Shut up Edward!" Rosalie threatened him.

I felt a shudder run down my spine as my heart gave its last pitiful beat. There was a sharp intake of breath as I opened my eyes and took in my heighted senses. Everything was too bright, too sharp, too loud.

And there was a burning in my throat.

The End.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Emmett and Jasper are my favorite characters and I'm also currently working on a story of Jasper's early days. Stay tuned and leave a review – they make my day!!


	2. Aarrggh!

Disclaimer: Yeah_,_ we all know the drill…I don't own 'em.

Aarrggh!

"God…it's like watching an ape with a stick." Edward mumbled from his place leaning against the sink.

Rosalie and I both growled at him.

"Edward!" Esme scolded him, smacking him on the shoulder as she passed.

"Sorry!" He held up his hands in surrender.

_Haha, you got yelled at by your mommy!_ I laughed at him.

Edward rolled his eyes.

_What? Not going to bite Eddie? How about this?_ I imagined the Mallory twins in the hayloft. Edward winced and left the room.

_Life must suck being such a prude_. I threw after him. I learned pretty quick after my transformation that I could endlessly torture Edward with rude thoughts. And I had an endless supply of rude thoughts, which was a good thing considering I had endless time before me.

Rosalie and I were at the table. In front of me was a sheet of paper and a line of pencils. I was trying to control my strength, and I wasn't having too much luck with it. My assignment was to write my name on the paper. Simple enough. But I could not for the life of me do it. Every time I picked up a pencil, it snapped. We had started the exorcise with a pen, and after Esme tried to scrub the ink from the table top with no success, she took the table outside and re-sanded the top. That was when they gave me the pencils. There was a trash can nearby with two dozen broken ones already, and the ones in front of me were the only ones left. Once they were gone, Carlisle would have to pick up more on his way home from the hospital.

When I first woke up from my transformation, Rosalie took me hunting. We were running through the woods, and she set me on the path of a bear. At first I was skeptical. I knew I was stronger than I had been before, and definitely faster, but I could take on a bear now? No way! Rosalie had laughed at me, running up to the bear and slapping it on the ass as ran past. The bear let out an angry growl, and as Rosie had ran too fast for the bear to see it, it came after me because I was standing there with a stunned look on my face.

_Crazy broad slapped a bear!_

Then the bear charged into me, and instead of it knocking me to the ground, it bounced off me and rolled through the dirt.

I hadn't felt a thing!

I laughed, and launched myself at the bear. But I was too strong, doing far too much damage to the bear too quickly. Rosalie told me to stop playing with my food and I went for it's neck.

It tasted like ass.

The blood helped alleviate the burning in my throat, but it wasn't what I wanted. Rosalie must have known what I was thinking because she told me, "I know it doesn't quite quench the thirst, but believe me, you do not want what will."

She had told me while I was burning that her family didn't hunt humans, and they were careful to keep me secluded in their cottage in the woods. The day after I changed, Carlisle had gone to do his shift at the hospital. When he came home, he smelled so…_delicious_. The scent of human had clung to him, and my mouth watered with a fluid that burned the inside of my mouth and made the fire in my throat even worse. I think I scared him when he turned around and I was directly behind him with my nose almost pressed into his neck. I couldn't get enough of the scent.

"Whoa there big fella." Rosalie laughed, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from her '_father_'. Carlisle kept a careful distance from me for the rest of the evening, eventually going off to hunt with Esme.

It turned out that I really liked Esme. She was just this little woman who smiled and laughed and didn't say anything bad about anyone. Even after I broke almost every glass in her cupboard. Whatever they need glasses for I don't know, we don't use them. But the glasses had been my first exorcise, and I broke several of them before they took them away from me and gave me the pen. If you ask me, they should have just left me with the glasses, the pen had made more mess than they did.

It was now my third day as a vampire. And I could still not control my strength. I had already broken the glasses, a chair when I sat in it too hard, and I had backed into a wall when I wasn't paying attention. I went right through the plaster. Esme told me not to worry, she didn't like the paint color on that wall anyway. She came back an hour later with a bucket of plaster and a trowel.

_Esme…you're awesome_.

Edward was taking some getting used to. Firstly, the mind-reading thing was still freaking me out, but I learned pretty quick how to defend myself from him. Just think the rudest, most depraved thoughts imaginable, and the angsty little bugger took off pretty quick. I found it hilarious, and no one could yell at me because it wasn't as if I were saying anything. I was pretty sure they all knew what I was doing, but I think Eddie got under their skin sometimes too. It wasn't my fault he was freak, even in the vampire world.

That was something that I had found disappointing. I thought that if Edward had mind-reading abilities, then they all must. But that wasn't the case. It turned out that he was the only one with a definite ability. Although Carlisle assured me that he had never come across another Newborn with as much strength as me, and that I would probably be the strongest vampire he'd ever known. _Go me_. Since Carlisle had been around a long time, and knew a lot of our kind, I took that as a compliment. And I was excited by the thought of my new strength.

And Rosalie.

My angel Rosalie, who was guiding my every step in my new world. My Rosalie, who was by my side non-stop. My Rosie, who I couldn't stop thinking of.

The first time I thought that, Edward's head had shot up and he stared at me.

_You say one word dipshit, and I will destroy you_.

He just shook his shaggy head and left the house. It must suck for the guy to have been changed right at the time of all the crazy teenage hormones running amok in his system. _Eternally pubescent_. I laughed and heard "Shut up!" Echoing through the trees.

"Like this Emmett." I was shaken from my reverie as Rosalie daintily lifted the pencil from the table, and elegantly wrote her name across the paper.

I reached for the pencil she put down. As gently as I could, I lifted the instrument.

_Holy crap! I didn't break it!_

I placed the tip on the paper, immediately crushing the end. "Aarrggh!" I cursed and threw the pencil at the wall. It pierced the plaster right by Esme's head. "Sorry Esme!" I moaned.

"Don't worry about it Sweetheart, it's hard for everyone at first." She said while pulling the pencil from the wall and tossing it back on the table. "Carlisle told me Edward ran through a brick wall, frightened to death of the voices in his head."

"You did much better that time, Emmett!" Rosalie encouraged me. "Just a little more practice and you'll have it."

"Or I'll break Esme's table in two." I said sarcastically.

"Here," she said, while grasping my hands in her small ones. It felt nice. "You just have to change your thinking. You're used to being able to do these things with your old strength, you didn't have to be careful. Just imagine that everything you touch is a newborn kitten, a newly hatched chick…' she said while placing the pencil in my hand.

I did as she asked. I thought of the ducks that would always nest in the lake by my home. Spring was my favorite time of year because I loved to watch the ducklings swimming in a line after their mother. Didn't mean I wouldn't shoot them come fall – but I liked the baby animals. I thought of foals and calves, puppies and baby pigs. And without realizing it, I had written my name across the page.

_Emmett McCurdy_.

I did it again, and again. Soon the page was filled with my messy handwriting and Rosalie was beaming proudly at me. I liked the way she smiled. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. And I hadn't truly known how beautiful she was before I changed because my human senses weren't strong enough. And I was bleeding out and in serious pain.

"Well done Emmett!" Esme laughed. She stood next to me and held a glass out to me.

I looked at it questioningly. "Are you sure you want me to break another one?"

Esme just shrugged and said, "Opa."

I thought of baby kittens and took the cup from Esme. It didn't shatter. I turned it carefully in my hand, examining it. I carefully set it on the table top. It remained intact.

"Fantastic." I snarked. "A little more practice and I'll be juggling these."

"Pessimist." Rosalie chided me. "Come on." She said while pulling on my hand. "Let's go for a run." She darted out the door, calling "race you!" as she went. I took off after her.

I really liked running. It wasn't something I enjoyed while human, but now…And running behind Rosalie, trying to catch up to her…it was a great view.

I wanted her, and I didn't know if I could still have her the way I wanted. All the parts were still there, but did they work the same? Was it something vampires did or was it a left over human desire? And how the hell did I find out if Rosalie felt the same way about me? She was always there, but was it because of guilt? She hadn't got to me in time to save me from the bear and now she was stuck with me?

The thoughts ran through my head as fast as my feet ran through the woods. Trees whipped past us as I chased her golden hair that was flying straight out behind her. I could have overtaken her – but the view from back here was too good.

I tried to shake myself out of it. What would she want with a duffer like me? She was perfection incarnate and I was an oaf that could barely pick up a pencil.

We hit a clearing and she did a sudden about-face. I nearly ran into her but skidded to a stop inches from her. She was smiling, and a playful look came into her golden eyes. She crouched slightly, like she was going to spring at me.

"Rosalie, what are you doing?" I asked, shocked.

_Is she crazy?_

"Come on Emmett," she taunted me, still dancing back and forth in front of me. A deeper, more animal feeling was welling up from my center.

"Are you out of your _mind_?" I stressed. "I could hurt you!"

"You have to catch me first!" She laughed.

I lunged for her, but she darted out of the way. I reached again, and again I missed. She was always that one step ahead of me, laughing that bell-tinkling laugh. I chased her around the clearing, in and out of the trees, always just out of reach. I was having fun, and I think she was too. I didn't think she'd ever had an opportunity to just be silly.

I don't know if I caught her unaware, or if she let me catch her, but catch her I did. My arms wrapped around her waist and she let out a delighted shriek as I lifted her into the air and spun her around. I set her on the ground, her hair tousled and wisps crossed her face. She smiled up at me as she pushed the hair from her forehead. I couldn't help myself as I suddenly leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

If I shocked her she didn't let me know. She buried her hands in my hair and kissed me back. I lost all control of my hands as they sought to grab as much of her as they could.

"Emmett," she whispered, putting a hand on my face and forcing me back. "You have to go easy."

"I'm sorry." I muttered, ashamed. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her, and I couldn't touch her without risking that. "Hey!" I realized. "You kissed me back!"

"Of course I did you silly brute!" She smacked me lightly in the chest. "I was willing to wait as long as it took for you to want me - I didn't want to rush you. The Change does funny things to us and the thirst is enough to drive some of us insane. I'm amazed that you could even think of me that way so soon - I thought it would take years."

"I've been thinking of you since the start. No – before the start. I don't know. I just can't get you out of my head."

"That must have been driving Edward crazy." She laughed, snuggling against my chest.

"You have no idea. The kid should learn to stay out of people's heads."

She kissed me lightly on the lips and stepped back. "I was hurt once by a man," she said. "It was the last betrayal before my transformation."

I was enraged. Some asshole hurt my angel? On purpose?! "I will tear him to shreds!" I cursed, red encroaching on the edges of my vision.

"I already did." She replied with a satisfied smile.

"That's my girl." I approved. God this was a woman after my own heart.

"Emmett, I'm telling you this because I'm trusting _you_ not to hurt me." She stepped back again, and biting her lower lip, grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head.

I was dumbstruck. I was standing in a forest clearing, looking at Aphrodite standing naked in the moonlight. Part of my brain just shut down like it always did when I was human.

_Glad to know some things don't change_.

"Rosie, I don't know if I can do this." I stammered. "I don't want to hurt you." I amazed myself that I said that while looking her in the eyes instead of at her exposed body.

She stepped nearer to me. "You won't." She smiled. "Just think of baby kittens."

The End.

A/N: I had to add another chapter because I just can't leave Emmett alone. This popped into my head at work today and I had to come home and write it – damn plot bunnies. Hope you enjoyed it.


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